Friday, December 27, 2013

Folks We Oughta Know – The December Version

“Folks We Oughta Know” posts are regular visitors of Indie Obsessive. But we have never felt more enthusiastic about endorsing the Folk-related music within the post. Even if the genre is not in your wheelhouse, these are bands that should be given attention. As Miles Davis put it, “Good Music is good no matter what kind of music it is.”

Mason Brothers is a band from Richmond, Virginia. As their name implies, it’s another group that includes brothers. The members are James Mason (lead vocals, guitar), Christian Mason (guitar, lap steel, backing vocals), Ben Willson (piano, keyboards, organ, backing vocals), and Patrick Strollo (bass). In June 2013, Mason Brothers released “Falling Together,” which is still available as a free download. The song begins quietly, with background vocals layered with the lead vocals, acoustic guitar and keyboards. Then, at the one-minute mark, an electric guitar signals an increase in energy.

Falling Together by Mason BrothersIn late 2012, Mason Brothers experienced a degree of traction with the song “Game of Cards.” Our favorite feature of the song is the harmonica.

Weathered is the performance name of Upile Mkoka, who hails from Queensland, Australia. He describes his music as being New Folk. In July, Weathered released the song "Coast," which is currently available as a free and legal download.

Mikkelsen is the moniker used by Justin Mitchell, a singer-songwriter in Tri Cities, Washington. As a point of reference, Mikkelsen is the Lumineers with some attention to his religion. We are embedding the Bandcamp offering of “Through Darkened Caves.” Our personal favorite is “Where You Are,” but “Heart of Oak” is not far behind in terms of preference. "Heart of Oak" includes Lumineers "Heys" and Eddie Vedder voice quivers.